I’ve been going through some of my older posts lately, and came across this one that I posted just before heading to Europe last summer (oh, I can remember now how nervous I was about that trip, my first to Brussels).
This phrase jumped out at me today from the Baz Luhrman speech:
Enjoy your body…Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or what other people think of it…it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
I think that phrase resonated with me because I’m acutely aware of my body’s limitations and flaws. But I am determined not to let that keep me from doing all that I can with it. The complexity and strength of my body continues to amaze me–that I’m sitting here typing and sipping a latte and trying to get Ellycat off of my lap all at the same time (while listening to the birds outside and feeling the tautness of my shoulders from my workout yesterday and feeling the dryness of my eyes that is the early morning), is simply amazing.
A few times yesterday I jumped from my canoe into the ocean. The water was pretty cold and it was overcast. The physical heat of having paddled so hard on the ocean combined with the brisk cold of the water made me feel so blissfully alive.
I ask my body to do a lot of hard things–but I realize that I like doing those hard things. It feels so satisfying to stretch and pull and reach, and to be present to the various sensations (even pain, sometimes) that pushing my physical limits brings. As I paddled down the channel and into the Back Bay yesterday I felt so grateful to have a strong body right now and to live so close to water where I can swim and paddle. I don’t want to take any of that for granted, because it is such a gift.
Here’s the entire Luhrman speech below. It’s well worth your time for a listen. And as he recommends, I always wear sunscreen :)